Naked Bicycles BBQ Butterfly

Coming from a background in design, I’m always fascinated by the methods that the builders, painters, artists and fellow designers do to personalize the frames we see here on Cycle EXIF. From Rob Pollock’s woodwork effect to Bryan Meyer’s paint on the Bishop Bikes, from the work by Death Spray Custom to the steel frames simply covered with a clear coat to show off the raw welds, this is as much an art gallery as it is an exhibition of bicycles. This is, however, the first time I’ve encountered the finish seen on this 29er by Canada’s Naked Bicycles.

Sam Whittingham has been building bikes for over a decade, and a quick carouse through his flickr reveals some wondrous feats of engineering, not to mention consistent award-winning entries at the last few NAHBS’s. This 29er has been decorated by heating the steel to a temperature high enough to cause the steel to anodize, producing a marvelous mottled effect that visibly demonstrates the positive energy contained within each steel frame.